Top Ten Tuesday: booooooks in spaaaaaace

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created and hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, in which we all talk about a bookish topic and have fun making lists. This week we’re each picking a favourite setting and I’m going into SPACE.

Let’s be really clear here: there’s a lot of books set in space. More specifically, there’s lots of books set in space that I haven’t read. I can guarantee that my top ten will infuriate lovers of trad SF, in which I am badly versed (which is how I plan to remain, as much of the classic SF I’ve read has made me angry or bored). Yes, yes, it was all acceptable at the time, blah blah give them a pass blah blah but no, sorry. I don’t care if it was the norm at the time; that doesn’t make it right, and it certainly doesn’t make it likely I’ll enjoy it. And enjoyment is my number one demand of a book I read. Life is too short (and books are too numerous) to read something you don’t enjoy. Err, sorry, I got distracted. Let’s get back to SPACE. It’s big. It’s popular. It’s often clever. Here are some of my favourite bits of it in no particular order:

I like this more than I probably should, not least because I sympathise with Star Svensdotter’s management style (and challenges). Hard-headed Alaskans building space stations turn out to be surprising entertaining, and this is fine piece of fluff to while away a slow weekend.

I’ve raved about it before, I’ll rave about it again. Motley crew! Much-loved but slightly-improvised spaceship! Dubious mission! Awesome aliens! Lots of spaaaaaaace! Alien reptiles with feathers! This is warm, fuzzy and cuddly even when it’s trying to be menacing, and I have to chisel the delight off my face every time I think about it. YAY.

Inherit the Stars – James P Hogan

Having ranted about classic SF, here I go including a book that’s older than I am. I haven’t revisited this for nearly 20 years, but I recall it very fondly: when astronauts find a dead body on the Moon, scientists are bewildered by its age. But 50,000-year-old ‘Charlie’ isn’t the only mystery awaiting us in our own solar system. No doubt this classic included all the tropes I now hate, which eluded me at the time. I’d really like to find a copy and revisit it regardless.

Old Man’s War – John Scalzi

It took me a little while to warm up to Old Man’s War, but John Perry proved a sufficiently likeable narrator and I found myself intrigued by the mysterious hints of what lay beneath the glossy military space opera surface. Not my usual cup of tea, but rather a lot of fun.

Ancillary Justice – Ann Leckie

I found Ancillary Justice an accomplished novel of ideas that I appreciated rather than enjoyed. The plot never quite sucked me in, and I never really warmed to the Radch or indeed Breq herself. That said, it is terribly well constructed with some gorgeous interludes, and I generally love books about AI and personhood so it more than earns a place on the list.

Yes, I’m going to rave about this one more time, because the longer it sits with me the more I like it. I will cheerfully nominate this for every (suitable) award going – it’s well written, with an engaging heroine and an unreliable, amoral sidekick (yay!), once again deals with emergent AI and tackles the ethics of empire and warfare head-on into the bargain. Spectacular space opera with vision and a conscience. Sign me up.

A Matter of Oaths – Helen S Wright

I am so sad that this entertaining debut is little-known and sadly failed to launch the author’s career. It’s a happy space opera stew of familiar tropes with immortal warring Emperors, cyberpunk in place of science, amnesia, a strong dose of ‘I’m getting too old for this shit’ and a dash of romance. Available for free download (although I suggest you make a donation) on the author’s website.

Excession – Iain M Banks

I can’t write about space without mentioning the Culture, and while Excession isn’t my favourite it probably is the most relevant to this week’s topic. I love half of Excession – the half told from the perspective of the Minds (spaceship AI). They’re smart, sassy, manipulative and committed to their individual beliefs – and watching them try to outmanoeuvre one another in response to a perceived threat (or is it an opportunity?) is a joy. Sadly, the human characters just annoy me.

The Sparrow – Mary Doria Russell

A firm favourite for many years, in this haunting, tragic first contact novel the Jesuits rapidly and secretly send a mission into space after a SETI researcher finds music being broadcast across the galaxy. This isn’t easy reading (we know from the start just how badly wrong things will go), but I loved the camaraderie of the crew, especially the older couple with parental instincts and enormous sense of fun.

In lieu of a tenth, time for some honourable mentions:

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which I loved as a teenager but sadly struggle to engage with now.

Dune, which I should reread as I suspect I’ll enjoy it more now than when I first read it.

…and a general nod to Arthur C Clarke, because I remember both 2001 and Rendezvous with Rama fondly if faintly, and I’d still like to read Childhood’s End.

Having had a bit of a rant about classic SF to start, I’ll finish by noting that I do have every intention of reading as much Le Guin as I can get my hands on. And I will at least read the Asimov I own. I remain torn about trying The Forever War, and there’s no way I’m ever touching anything by Alfred Bester ever again. Ever. Have I said ever enough?

Bits of space on my shelf: loads, actually. But that’s okay, because November is SciFi Month and I will jump in with abandon!

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Haha, I always want to read more Science Fiction novels, because the few I read so far were all pretty good. I have Dune on my Kindle and John Scalzi is on my SciFi-list as well. Becky Chambers & James P Hogan sound interesting, I need to check it out 🙂

Dune could be fantasy in space – lots of politics, warring cultures, magic powers – so a good start 🙂 And the other three you picked from the list are super fun and accessible. Enjoy your travels in space 🙂

I really love books set in space but I am ashamed to say I haven’t read any of the ones on your list. I have read Ender’s game and Red Rising but they are more futuristic space… I guess I’ll have to add some of these to my TBR list.

The only one on this list I’ve read is Old Man’s War. It was a fun ride, but I still haven’t read the sequels yet. Not sure I will either. Ancillary Justice has been on my radar since it won the Hugo Award. I still haven’t got around to it yet. Not sure if I’ll like it or not, but the premise definitely grabs me.

I read the first 3 or 4 Old Man’s War – some of it was a bit too convenient, but they were all similar levels of lightweight fun. I haven’t yet picked up the sequels to Ancillary Justice. I might have to make a point of it over the winter…

I did mine on space, too! TTT- Beam Me UpSpecifically, books set on space ships or space stations. I agree with you on the classic sci-fi. I absolutely adore some of it, but some of it just makes my eyes cross!

I just read my first Le Guin novel – The Lathe of Heaven. It was FANTASTIC!

Old Man’s War is great. Couldn’t get in to Ancillary Justice. Want to read Ninefox Gambit!

SPAAAAAAAAACE! I had this annoying tickle in the back of my head the whole time I was writing that I’d forgotten a couple of books – I get this a lot, almost always about space-set SF (rather than fantasy etc). I have to assume I borrowed a bunch of awesome SF from the library as a kid/teen that never made it onto my shelves, and that I’ve forgotten about. This makes me very sad. And HELL YES Ninefox Gambit. Just keep pushing through the first couple of chapters – they nearly put me off, but once they get off-planet it’s all awesome.

I spent your introductory rant and the rest of the list going, “But Le Guin….but Le Guin…” and then you eased my mind at the end! Left Hand of Darkness is one of my favorite books of all time, not just fave sci fi. And I know I loved The Sparrow. Is Martian Chronicles on your “hell no” list? Because I loved it in middle school, but wonder if it’s held up through time. I’m pretty picky about sci fi, and several of those covers are off-putting to me (too tech-y), but The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet and Second Star both look and sound good. Fun list!

Heh 🙂 I may have been chanting Le Guin Le Guin Le Guin as I wrote! I grew up on Earthsea and I loved the Gifts / Voices / Powers trilogy, but I’ve not read her SF and I absolutely intend to. I haven’t read The Martian Chronicles although I think I have read one of Bradbury’s Martian stories (and hated it). I like Fahrenheit 451 a lot, but there’s enough in the description of the Martian Chronicles that makes me think I wouldn’t get on with it.

…and I know what you mean about awful covers 😉 I read A Matter of Oaths with a text only ebook cover rather than the lurid pulp tech I included here – that wouldn’t normally entice me 😉

I love that cover of A Long Way To A Small Angry Planet and I’ve heard it’s good. I haven’t read a lot of LeGuin but I love Planet of Exile. It’s one of her early books and I think nostalgia has a lot to do with my devotion to it- I read it very early. Asimov and a lot of trad SF bores me- Dune bored me too. I did read rendezvous w/ Rama but hardly remember it.

I clearly need to read a lot more sci-fi space books. I like space but I never seem to pick up many books with it. Which is kind of a shame. You make The Long Way to a Small Planet sounds really interesting.

I used to mostly read fantasy, but these days it’s more of an even mix. I’m not big on hard SF or military SF (I tend to glaze over when it’s all about molecules or guns), but I love a good first contact or space opera – let’s face it, most of them are just fantasy in space really 🙂 – and a space-set disaster story. There’s always room for things to go go horribly wrong in spaaaaaace.

Small Angry Planet is an awesome starting point (especially if you watched/loved Firefly) because it’s a lovely group of people giving you a guided tour to the galaxy while they get excited about pop music, food and each other (as they’re not all human).